Welcome back to your weekly journey through the MENA startup landscape!

As we mark the anniversary of the war on Gaza, our hearts go out to all those affected by the ongoing genocide and war crimes in the region. We stand in solidarity with our Palestinian community, embracing resilience and hope for a brighter future - From the river to the sea, Palestine, one day, will be free!

Fundraising Roulette

Al Menu (KSA/SaaS) raised $10m round

Quantum (KSA/Adtech) raised $7m pre-series A

Podeo (UAE/Podcast Distribution) raised $5.4m Series A

HealthStay.io (UAE/Saas) raised $500k seed

BiggerBlueButton (UAE/EdTech) raised $15k Series A

MGX (UAE) invested in OpenAI world record $6.6B round

Konnect Networks (Tunisia/Fintech) raised $1.3m seed

Kredit (Egypt/Fintech) raised $1m round

Beltone Capital (Egypt) invested in VelyVelo (France)

Cyfr Capital (Oman) invested in 8 startups

In The News

Mubadala (UAE) acquired Babel (Spain)

UAE issued first commercial gambling licence

Dubai Quality Group launched 1st Global AI Award

Dubai launched new IP Hub

SAMA issued new principles for finance and real estate companies

Iraq introduced new regulations to modernize payments and banking

Bokra (Egypt) & CIC (Canada) launched fund to back entrepreneurial students

Ecosystem Updates

Changelabs (Egypt) welcomed new fintech cohort

Blossom (KSA) celebrated a decade of accelerating startups

Entlaq partnered with Savannah to support Sudanese entrepreneurs in Egypt

Zain launched Zain Great Idea training camp

Playbook is hiring for multiple roles

Beban Crowdfunding to Launch SME Loans in 2025

Startup Highlights

Keyper (UAE/Proptech) launched Rent-Now Pay-Later marketplace

Space42 (UAE/Spacetech) debuted on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange

Nice One (KSA/eCommerce) received approval to go public

Mamun (Oman/Fintech) won best Islamic Finance startup award

Klivvr (Egypt/Fintech) launched Egypt’s first family financial product

Open For Application

Sanabil Startup Unlocked by 500 Global | Saudi Arabia

Llama Design Drive AI Accelerator Program | Saudi Arabia

NBB Digital Banking Challenge | Bahrain

FoodStart Incubator Program | Tunisia

Factory 619 Incubation Program | Tunisia

Great Arab Minds initiative | MENA

Cool Events This Week

• Women Leaders with Tech | 07.10 Dubai

• VC Spotlight Series by HUB71 | 09.10 Abu Dhabi

• 24six9 Dxb Pitch Roulette | 11.10 Dubai

• Expand North Star | 13-16.10 Dubai

• GITEX | 14-18.10 Dubai

• SuperReturn Middle East | 14.10 Dubai

• SuperBridge Summit | 15.10 Dubai

Techy Bytes

Kuwait to introduce AI in high schools

PwC Middle East launched region’s first Legal GenAI offering

Huawei revealed 100B Arabic LLM

Google will start paying Egyptian creators in local currency

OpenAI launched new Canvas ChatGPT interface